The EU says no to the suspension of budget constraints

“The general escape clause (GEC in jargon, General Escape Clause, ed.) of the Stability and Growth Pact – states the spokesperson – which allows member states to deviate from their net spending path, can only be activated in the event of a serious economic recession in the euro area or in the EU as a whole. We are carefully monitoring the unstable situation in the Middle East, but we are not in this scenario“.

In fact, the situation in which the Union finds itself is different from that of 2022: then the EU had to suspend restrictions to allow member states to support economies and companies forced to close their doors or reduce activity due to the pandemic. Today, however, a crisis looms due to the shortage of oil, gas and refined products, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It is believed that budgetary stimuli, from what we understand, could even result counterproductive in such a context, given that they could stimulate energy demand and further aggravate the situation, both in terms of higher prices and supply shortages.